As much as you would like to think otherwise and blame your circumstances or the people around you, the outcomes or results you experience in your life, are the result of only one person - "YOU". As James Allen so aptly said in his book, titled "As a Man Thinketh", "A Person is the causer (though nearly always unconsciously) of his circumstances, and that, whilst aiming at the good end, he is continually frustrating its accomplishment by encouraging thoughts and desires which cannot possibly harmonize with that end."
Great Example
In his book, As a Man Thinketh, James Allen offers an example to support his philosophy as stated above. He tells the story of a very wealthy man, with a very gluttonous demeanour, who suffers from a very painful disease. He spends large sums of money to try to get well and to try to find a cure, when all he needed to do was to change his bad glutinous habits. The wealthy man can never achieve good health and get rid of the disease; irrespective of how much money he spends. Until he aligns his desires and brings them into harmony with good health he seeks.
Have you uncovered your desires?
Are your desires aligned and in harmony with the outcomes you want to achieve. You can never achieve anything meaningful, unless you find a way to align what you want, with your beliefs, values and thoughts. You are creating your circumstances all the time, with your beliefs, thoughts and actions or lack thereof. Your belief around what you think or believe you deserve to achieve, is what determines what action you are willing to take and more importantly, they may also cause you to sabotage your own efforts too.
When you start to achieve success, which is outside of what you believe possible for you or, which pulls you out of your self-imposed comfort zone. You will subconsciously sabotage yourself. Sounds really crazy, that someone would sabotage himself or herself, but it is a well-researched fact that people subconsciously sabotage their efforts, when they are pulled out of what is familiar or comfortable. Explore your own belief system right now. Can you think of a time when you unconsciously stood in your own way or sabotaged your own efforts? I am certain you can think of quite a few.
Do you believe that Attitude is everything?
I am sure you can relate to the story above, about the wealthy businessman. Where you have experienced similar circumstances, you want things to change, but you are not willing to change the things, which will help you to achieve the result or change you want. Unless you get out of your own way and change your attitude, behaviour and habits, you will never escape the place where you live right now. I have spent so much time in my own life, desperately wanting to remove certain negative circumstances from my own life, while thinking thoughts, taking actions and retaining the habits, which resulted in the circumstances in the first place. You can never change anything, unless you find a way to align your thoughts, actions and habits, with the outcome you want to achieve.
You can Change your thought patterns
A few years ago I made a new year's resolution. I was committed to spend more quality time with my family. I enthusiastically laid out a schedule of activities, which we would do together. I was very excited by the prospect of spending more time with the people I loved so dearly. The plan I had laid out and all my good intentions put me in line, for winning the father of the year prize that year.
Let it suffice to say, that had there been a top dad competition that year, I would have placed stone last. Despite my good intentions, I had not changed my thought patterns, habits or actions at all. I got wrapped up in running my businesses, justifying my need to be present all the time. I constantly found good reasons to justify why could not to meet my commitment. I had paid lip service towards spending time with my family, but had not changed the habitual thoughts and actions, which had kept me away from my family in the first place.
As you know - Circumstances don't change you do
I am sure you have heard the saying that goes, "If you want things to change, you need to change" Nothing can or will change in your life, until you change the things, which brought those circumstances about in the first place. You need to harmonize, your thinking, habits and actions, with the results you want to achieve. To think any differently, is to be as foolish as the wealthy man described earlier, who wanted change, but would not change his own behaviour, which was the root cause of the problem in the first place.
See it when you believe it
Wayne Dyer, is one of the most enlightened people I have ever met. He said it so well, when he said, "Work each day on your thoughts rather than concentrating on your behaviour. It is your thinking that creates the feelings you have and ultimately your actions as well."
Explore your drive, passion and excitement. Try to uncover and discover the thoughts, habits and actions, which are necessary to support you to achieve your vision. Once you have discovered these three crucial elements for success, the rest will seem easy. Remember that "Nothing ever happens to you, things happen because of you"
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